Less than 200 days before the start of the first 48-team FIFA World Cup, the procedure for determining the composition of the twelve groups of four teams each that will make up the first phase of the tournament has been confirmed. Spain will be in the first pot, as will Argentina, its rival in the Grand Final next March, which pits the winner of the Euro Cup against the winner of the Copa América. The paths of the two teams will run parallel until a hypothetical final, as FIFA explained on Tuesday afternoon.
The final draw, one of the most exciting moments on the road to the world title, will bring together the coaches and managers of all the qualified teams – and those still in contention – next Friday, December 5, at the prestigious John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC, where they will meet their rivals.
The final draw procedure sees the host countries – Canada, Mexico and the United States – assigned to Pot 1, and the other 39 qualified teams are distributed into four pots of twelve teams each based on the FIFA rankings published on 19 November. Finally, the two places reserved for the teams in the World Cup qualifying tournament, as well as the four places corresponding to the European qualifiers, will be assigned to pot 4.
The draw will begin with all selections from Pot 1, which will be distributed from Group A to Group L. Pots 2, 3 and 4 will then be drawn in that order.
Sweepstakes Restrictions
In pot 1, Canada, Mexico and the United States, as hosts, will be identified with different colored balls. The other nine selections of urn 1 will be identified by nine balls of the same color and will automatically be assigned to position 1 of the group in which they are inserted. Although, to ensure competitive balance, two separate draws have been established in the match calendar until the semi-finals. In order to achieve a balanced distribution of teams, the following restrictions have been applied: the best ranked team (Spain) and the second best ranked team (Argentina) will be randomly assigned to opposite tables, so that they cannot cross paths until a hypothetical final. The same principle will apply in the case of the third and fourth placed teams (France and England respectively).
In Bass Drums 2, 3 and 4, the position of the selections in each group will be assigned according to a predefined pattern. This template is detailed in the table included in the draw procedure document. The position of the teams in the groups will depend on the pot from which they will be drawn and the group to which they will be assigned.
In principle, no group can contain two teams from the same confederation, with the sole exception of UEFA, represented by 16 teams. Each group will have at least one and a maximum of two UEFA teams.
Assignment of match venues and times
While the final draw will determine which teams will face each other in the group stage, the updated schedule – including the stadium and start time for each match – will be confirmed on Saturday 6 December.
The post-draw match allocation process aims to ensure the best conditions for all teams and, as far as possible, make it easier for fans around the world to watch their teams’ matches live in different time zones.
